Daily History Challenge · No. 116 · Thursday 22 October 2026 · Chain
Puzzle No. 116: Chain
The anchor was The Second Boer War (1899 CE). Every challenger is listed below with its year.
The anchor
The Second Boer War, fought from October 1899 to May 1902, pitted the British Empire against the two Afrikaner republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, whose independence and rich Witwatersrand gold deposits clashed with British imperial ambitions in southern Africa. After early Boer successes and sieges, Britain captured the republican capitals, prompting the Boers to wage a prolonged guerrilla campaign. In response the British under Lord Kitchener adopted scorched-earth tactics and herded civilians into concentration camps, where roughly 26,000 Boer women and children and at least 20,000 black Africans died of disease and malnutrition, provoking international and domestic outcry. The war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902, which absorbed the republics into the British Empire while promising eventual self-government, realised in the Union of South Africa in 1910. The conflict, costly and brutal, exposed the strains of empire, popularised the term 'concentration camp', and left a deep legacy in South African politics.
The 10 challengers, in order of date
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
Before The Second Boer War
After The Second Boer War
After The Second Boer War
After The Second Boer War